Andromeda
by SomeNomdeplume
Summary: Sarah Ryder tried to be optimistic. She really did. But there had been no golden worlds waiting for them in Andromeda. Now, they were desperate for even the smallest foothold in an inhospitable galaxy.
1. Habitat

"Sam _?"_ I cried into the open air. "Sam, I need a little help here!"

 _"Sarah, you are about to reach terminal velocity."_

 _"_ Yes – Sam - that's why I need help!"

 _'My systems are offline. Attempting to resolve connectivity problems."_

 _"_ Well-" I spluttered. "I need you to be pretty quick about it!"

My heart thudded painfully against my rib cage as adrenaline pounded through my veins. The hazy atmosphere began to thin and I could see the ground rushing up to meet me.

"SAM!"

' _Connectivity restored. Calibrating jump jet for safe descent."_

The jump jet came to life with seconds to spare. The first burst pulled me up fast before stalling. It fired again, in uneven bursts this time, until I was close enough to the ground that I could land with both femurs intact. I landed unsteadily and toppled headlong over the edge of the outcrop. The jump jet tried to compensate for my falling by firing again as I continued to roll downwards and thrust me harder towards the ground.

I rolled onto my back with alarms sounding inside my helmet. A crack in my visor grew from the left hand side like a spider web.

 _Oh shit._

I lit up my omnitool.

 _Shit. Shit. Shit._

Oxygen was dragged out of the compromised visor as a vapour and vanished into the thin atmosphere. The fine laser tool activated and I had to will my arm to move slowly and steadily across the visor. With the screen repaired I let my arm fall to my side and concentrated on the rise and fall of my chest. When I was convinced that I was no longer dying, I slowly opened my eyes to the cloudy haze of Habitat 7. A fork of lightening thundered above me and my eyes followed the light down further along the ridge.

The rocks seemed to scale down at least another mile. I could see some life towards the bottom – some greenery and pools of water – but no sign of sentience. No sign of either shuttle.

"This is Ryder, come in." I braced my hand on my knee and forced myself up onto my feet. There was no response. "Hyperion? Sam? Anyone there?"

I spun around to the sound of heavy footsteps. My hand fell instinctively to the pistol holstered just below my hip.

"Sarah?" It was Liam. The rocks shifted under his weight and he stumbled as he stopped. He was out of breath and doubled over onto his knees.

"Sam's offline. I didn't see where either shuttle ended up." He sucked in a deep breath. "No one's answering comms."

He looked through my visor. "You okay?"

A clap of lightening interrupted my answer.


	2. Hyperion

" _Welcome back."_

You never forget your worst hangover. For me – well – I'd spent a night on imported Turian whiskey that made my tonsils swell up like balloons by the next morning. I wasn't able to talk for a week. And the headache, It had felt quite literally as if I had a nail gun firing inside my skull. The first thing that I thought of as my mind began to catch up with my situation was Turian whiskey. But slowly, something else stirred in the back of my mind. It pushed through the heavy, painful fog and started to become clearer. Then I remembered.

 _Dad._

I sat up too quickly. My head swum and my stomach climbed into my throat.

"What happened," I demanded, but my throat was dry and it came out as a pitiful croak.

" _Sarah, you were clinically dead for 22 seconds."_

"What about the others?"

Something moved off to one side and I looked over to see Liam slumped against the wall, mostly asleep. He stirred slowly and took one, slow blink before waking up properly. I moved to the edge of the gurney I was resting on. The room tilted as my temples pulsed.

 _This is nearly worse than the whiskey._

"Hey, you're back with us." Liam put an arm over my shoulder to steady me. "Take it easy."

He said something quickly into his comm but I didn't pay much attention. I was preoccupied keeping the contents of my stomach where it belonged.

"Who were you talking to?" Liam asked.

"Sam." He frowned.

"I didn't hear him."

Now that my senses were coming back to me, I realised that I felt cold. And not the usual conditioned air of a spacecraft either. It was cooler than that. Then I registered the hum. A slow, constant baritone that made my ears tingle.

 _Sam Node?_

Cora rushed through the door. She let out a heavy sigh, like she had been holding her breath but hadn't realised it.

"You're awake."

The doctor from before – the Asari – followed her in.

There was someone missing.

"My father," I began. "Where-"

Cora looked down, then to the doctor - T'Perro. Liam's arm tightened around my shoulders.

No one spoke, but that didn't matter. I'd already figured it out.


	3. Lockdown

" _The system lockdown is disabled. The vault and the atmosphere processor should return to normal operation."_

The framework above us began to ripple and invert. It seemed strange that something metal could move so fluidly.

 _"_ Ryder… you fixed the lockdown, didn't you? Everything is lighting up, power readings are off the chart. Really, really off the chart.

I frowned. Things seemed alright in this chamber. Calm, even. But something in Peebee's voice…

"But if its back online then we should be good…"

My train of thought fell away.

"…to…"

Towards the back of the chamber, something was growing. It was like a thick cloud that began to swell until it reached the tangle of plant life that had wound its way from the surface and into the vault.

"Uhh…" Liam sounded uneasy. "Should we…?"

The barely reached the plant before it shrivelled and disappeared into a plume of fine charcoal.

 _Not good._

"Go!" I yelled, already sprinting for the door. I reached for my comm.

"Peebee! Where are you?"

Peebee nearly sent me to the floor as she rounded the corner at full speed. She grabbed me firmly by both shoulders.

"Ryder! Something's going on, the systems-"

Liam and Cora overtook us and Peebee's eyes grew wide.

"What the…"

I ripped her hands from my shoulders and dragged her by the arm.

"Just run!"


End file.
